Separating beauties from beasts

e.l.f. Essentials Burgundy Nail Polish Review & Swatches

** This post was written by Fiona. She no longer blogs for Swatch And Learn. However, Mary still continues to blog and will be happy to reply to your comment. **

Dear elf Cosmetics,

Thank you for creating quality nail polishes that are affordable and easy to wear, such as the e.l.f. Essentials Burgundy Nail Polish. Please do not be offended by this: I think the color-name giver of your company may need his or her eyes checked. (Or perhaps the burgundy taken away.)

This color is not burgundy. It does not have enough of a bruised-red or purplish undertone for it to be burgundy. It is a reddish brown with a dose of orange that reminds me of Thanksgiving. Albeit a nice color in its own right, it does not give me the intoxicating feel that burgundy does. I am sober and disappointed.

elf Burgundy Review

Color

Well, you already know how I feel about this aspect of elf Burgundy. I don’t personally like it much because I don’t really like browns on my nails. But if you do, you might actually quite enjoy this. It’s a vibrant reddish brown with a hint of bronze undertone to it.

Consistency & Application

It’s smoother than burgundy itself! Sort of. I like the consistency of e.l.f. Burgundy: it’s thin enough that it spreads easily and levels itself out. And it’s thick enough to give you a nice coating with just one application. It takes about 7-10 minutes to dry.

My brush came defected though, making application difficult. There were hairs that stuck out! I plucked them out with my tweezers, and now all is fine and forgiven. The brush helps the nail polish glide onto the nail easily. If you’re not used to it, you might not like the rectangular cap.

Finish

Gloss me up some. The finish is super smooth and super glossy. You don’t need a top coat to add mega shine. But hey, you spent all that time on your nails, so make sure to wear a TC anyway to protect your work.

Opacity

I was quite surprised by the elf Essentials Burgundy Nail Polish. I got great color with just one coat! Applying a second coat made the reddish brown even richer. I tried three coats on my right hand and didn’t see a big difference – maybe it smoothed out some uneven application a little. But if you’re careful, you can definitely get away with two coats… maybe even just one!

Longevity

No one likes raggedy nails that look more chipped than old china, me included. I would say e.l.f. Burgundy does a pretty good job standing up to time and wear. About 4 to 5 days without signs of wear. It’s not super awesomefantabulistical. But it’s coming from a polish that cost $1, so I think it’s totally worth it.

Pros

Good consistency

Affordable

Infused with vitamin E

Free of DBP, formaldehyde, toluene

Lasts fairly long

Can get away with just 2 coats… maybe even 1

Cons

Not burgundy!

Final Verdict: 7.1/10

It’s not burgundy! That’s all. If the color has been more my taste, I would’ve totally rated it higher since I like everything else about this polish.

What do you think of this non-burgundy burgundy shade? Do you like browns on your nails?

I saw on Twitter that Vampy Varnish’s site is moving from GoDaddy to Hostgator. And during the migration to another host, there were some issues that I think her husband was trying to resolve. She’ll be back. (Love her site.)

You know, I’ve heard that the brushes on elf nail colors suck. But this is actually the first time I’ve ever had a bad brush, and I’ve tried quite a few elf nail colors. I plucked out the bristles that were sticking out, and the brush worked fine after that!